The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-03-04
FISH CULTURE.


| fSSn COItOH6.
Words Of Caution and Advice to Those De-
sirous Of Engaging In It.
I am almost daily in receipt of in
quiries of '.HOw may best obtain
practical information on the cultiva-
ton of fish?" First of all, / recon-
mend reading so far as possible, good
works on the subject. BY 50 doing you
will be saved many vexations and
trials, and avoid the failures and mis-
takes made by those who were obliged
to learn by hard study and experience.
When first began practical fish cul-
! ture had but very little of this liter7-
turc to guide me, and consequently it
sometimes took me considerable time
to work out problems which now APP
pear very simple.
After you have informed yourself
about the necessary requirements for
success. commence by obtaining few
spawn or fish, and make your first ex-
periments in small way. Although
you may be well yer sed theoretically,
you will find, in attempting to make
an actual application of your knowl-
edge, that you will meet with obstacles
that you did not know of before; in
other words. You must educate your
hands as well as your head to do the
work.
Commence in small way. and con-
duct your first experiments as cheaply
as possible. "But why" you may
say. ~ have read up thoroughly on
the subject. and the path seems clear
enough. Why let u year go by without
doing work that will amount to some
thing?" My friend. could You reason
ably expect to read how to make a
clock, or any other piece of machinery.
and then sit down and make it !?
There are, undoubtedly, geniuses who
are able to do this, but they are the ex-
ccptiOn and not the rule. The chances
are even that you will make some fatal
mistake the first season, and your ex-
perience will be just rs valuable. and
not nearly so expensive, if you start on
a small scale. A great deal can be
learned by visiting some establishment
which is in successful operation. and
the observations made there will be of
great vaule to the beginner.
Many failures occur through the inn
preston that fish culture is SO very
simple. This is great mistake, as to
conduct it successfully requires con-
slant attention, the same as any other
business. The value of experimenting
md making practical tests can not be
too highly estimated. There are so
many things which to your vision look
clear and practicable, which an actual
trial will prove to be useless. Theorct-
ically they may be true. but practically
failures. have many times caught an
idea which seemed to b@ just the thing
and must prove a success. and found l
was wrong. so that my usual plan now
is, when undertake to solve a difficult
problem, to have several different ex-
periments under way at the same time,
and among them will be some which 1
had made up my mind would be certain
failures, and many times some one of
these would be just the thing l wanted.
There are many waters of which it is
impossible to tell whether certain fish
will live in them without putting some
in and giving them = trial. as, for in
stance, if any one wishes to stock
stream with trout, and says that it is inn
pregnated with some sort of mineral
perhaps iron or sulphur-of course he
would have no way Of knowing how
strong the waters were imprcgnated,
or just what degree of strength the fish
could endure; and SO l always advise
placing 4 few in the waters in question
rs sure means of ascertaining. OF
course there are certain kinds of fish
which, if deposited in waters having
the necessary temperature. depth. bot
tom, ETC., we can say almost to GER
tainty will thrive if placed therein, and
many waters which possess such char
acteristics that we know that certain
fish will not live; but when the waters
are such that it is matter of doubt,
the correct way is to experiment.
A new beginner can not expect to
learn it all the first year, nor the Sec
ond. The more he studies and expert
ments the more he will find there is to
learn; in fact, fish culture does not diff
fer from any other business in this
respect. l have been working ut prac-
teal fish culture for about twenty-three
years, and had it on my mind since the
year 1887, and 1 find there is still a
great deal to be learned and discovered
about fish and how to raise them
Seth Green, in american Agriculturist.